The occupants of five University of Colorado at Boulder buildings saved the university about $72,000 in energy costs for the 2003-04 fiscal year and will be honored with the 2004 Buff Energy Star Award.
Students, faculty and staff from Fiske Planetarium, Ketchum Arts and Sciences, Muenzinger Psychology, Regent Administrative Center and the University Memorial Center each reduced their building's energy use by at least 5 percent per square foot to qualify for the award, given by CU-Boulder's Office of Energy Conservation and the Environmental Center. The winners will be recognized during award ceremonies at each building during Energy Conservation Week, April 4-8.
"The Buff Energy Star Award is a way for the university to publicly recognize the efforts these energy champions made toward energy conservation," said Scott Leach, a member of the award selection committee. "By reducing their energy use, these buildings have significantly reduced their environmental and economic footprint on the campus."
The award winners saved a total of about 600,000 kilowatt-hours and stopped about 900,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, according to campus energy conservation officer Moe Tabrizi.
To qualify for the award, each winning team had to successfully complete the following four goals: reduce the building's energy use by at least 5 percent; place energy and water conservation posters and educational materials throughout the building; complete an energy audit with the campus energy conservation officer; and take action on the findings of the audit.
Some of the successful energy-saving strategies included using power-saving features on computers, turning equipment and lights off when not in use, taking advantage of natural light and helping initiate larger energy conservation projects in the buildings, according to Tabrizi, who also is a member of the award committee.
For more information about the Buff Energy Star Award e-mail the selection committee members at tabrizi@colorado.edu, leachw@colorado.edu or Ghita Carroll at ghita.carroll@colorado.edu.
To report energy and water waste call the campus conservation hotline at (303) 735-6202 or e-mail energyconservationhotline@fm.colorado.edu.